Bakula and Keating Face 'Enterprise' End

Scott Bakula (Archer) said that he was happy to be on a series where people clamored for more when the cancellation was announced, and Dominic Keating (Reed) said that he was very impressed by the committment of the fans to saving Star Trek: Enterprise, which will broadcast its final episode at the end of this week.

The Boston Herald spoke with Bakula about the final episode, "These Are the Voyages...", which will air on Friday night at 9 p.m. following "Terra Prime" on UPN at 8 p.m. Bakula admitted that most of the cast was a bit disgruntled that the final episode incorporated The Next Generation stars Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Troi). "Writing a final episode for any series is a challenge, and certainly these folks have written final episodes for a few of these franchises now, so they're challenging themselves to write something different," he said philosophically.

As for the episode, itself, he added, "I think they came up with a way of validating my ship and our franchise in the historical log of 'Star Trek'...I think they did it in a very interesting way, and I hope that people are intrigued by it." He reiterated that he believes upheaval at the network had a lot to do with Enterprise's cancellation, and expected that the decision might be second-guessed later on.

TREKNews.de posted an exclusive interview with Keating (via TrekWeb) in which he recalled that as the first cast member to attend a convention, he told John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery and the others what to expect. "To be honest, I go to these events, because it is also plain sailing to earn money," he admitted. "It's not everyone's cup of tea. Jolene [Blalock] for example, isn't the kind of person who loves to entertain a crowd of three or four thousand people, although she tries, in order to thank the fans for their allegiance."

Keating claimed that it was not difficult to be a British actor in an American TV show because he has lived in the United States for many years, though he is not yet a US citizen, nor could he vote in the recent British elections because he does not pay taxes in the United Kingdom. The events of 9/11 affected him as a citizen of the world, he said, and he was moved by the way Star Trek fans from all over the world came together to try to save Enterprise. "But, sadly, 3 million dollars isn't enough for my salary," he joked.

The Boston Herald interview with Bakula is here; the TREKNews.de interview with Keating is excerpted at TrekWeb.